The client/server model is often used to deliver information across a network. In this model, a client computer connects to a server on which information resides. The client computer may request the services of the server, such as delivering information. Other services may include searching for and sending back information, such as when a database on a network is queried.
A conceptual diagram of a computer network 100, such as the Internet, is illustrated in FIG. 1. The network 100 may comprise small computers 102-114 and large computers 120, 122, commonly used as servers. In general, small computers 102-114 are “personal computers” or workstations and are the sites at which a user operates the computer to make requests for data from other computers or servers on the network 100.
A connection to the network 100 may be made through a network device 130-136 that provides an interface between the requesting computer (i.e. client) and the network infrastructure 140. The network device 130-136 may also be used to provide an interface between the network infrastructure 140 and the server 120, 122. The interface between the client 102-114, the server 120-122, and the network infrastructure 140 may be defined by a protocol referred to as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The HTTP is the language that Web clients and servers use to communicate with each other. A secure version of this protocol, HTTP-S, is often used to provide communication between the network infrastructure 140 and the network device 130-136. However, the link between the network device 130-136 and the server 120-122, or the network device 130-136 and the small computer 102-114, is often configured in a non-secured mode.